Dear Friend of Luther Blissett,

the text reproduced below was recently distributed to sponsors, organizers, participants in and attendees of an annual auction held in Athens, GA (USA) to benefit the Northwest Georgia Mental Health Association. It should go without saying that the "author" of this text does not necessarily agree with it; rather, it was distributed as an act of psychological warfare against those who choose to support such unsavory endeavors.

ART AND INSANITY

Regarding the Mental Health Benefit Art Show and Auction

When examined closely, the supposed differences between sanity and insanity begin to blur. "Normal behavior" is absolutely "insane", pathologically grounded in self-deception, repression and a mystical world view. The "insane" quite often suffer from nothing more than the inability to interpret their experiences in such a pathological manner. The "danger" posed by the "lunatic" to herself or others or the inability to "properly" function in society are obviously "normal" "healthy" responses to a mentally toxic situation. The same "civilized" society which produces the condition of "insanity" rejects the lunatic while holding her as an example of the "dangers" of undisciplined thought processes.

The artist performs a role complimentary to that of the "insane". The lunatic is vilified and pitied as a slave to uncontrollable thoughts and emotions, lacking a sense of self and unable to be "objective", while the artist adopts an extremely fixed sense of identity and objectifies her experiences, emotions, and thoughts (which are of course considered "more intense" than those of the "average" person) into "works of art" which are considered "universal" pieces of "self-expression". The artist is in actuality quite often so self-conscious (in the most literal sense of the term) that direct experience eludes them and their "works" more than bits of life which bounced off of their character armor.

It is truly a sign of the mass insanity of society that events such as this - in which the self-repressed sell mediated experiences to those who believe they can purchase pieces of a life more intense than their own, with profits donated to an organization specializing in repression and enforced socialization - are actively supported by so many. Anyone participating in this event is a supporter of repressive cultural regimes and a reactionary buffoon.

Sincerely,

Luther Blissett